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Sanctus Malus

Zombie
May 12, 2010
40
God's basement
I have always looked at the statline of the zombies and always regreted looking, but maybe I have a solution...

Experianced players tell me if this is a bad idea, but what if you used a helm of commandment and vanhels danse macarbe on them and sent them running into a unit of... say... hmmmm, anything with toughness 4 or below.
 

Aegis

Varghulf
Jul 6, 2008
785
Chi town
relying on zombies to kill anything, and i mean *anything* this includes other zombies, is a bad plan.

This book made them a tar pit, and nothing more.

Cept the tricksy turn 6 raise dead to contest a table quarter, that's the only thing they can be reliably counted on to perform well. =p
 

Drakim

Skeleton
Apr 23, 2010
92
Indeed. Have a huge zombie unit (bought or raised) and charge or use VDM to get them into another unit you don't want to face right now. Should keep them busy for a couple of turns.

That's pretty much their function.
 

witchking1980

Black Knight
Nov 1, 2009
309
when I put zombies the unit is at least 40 models. They really stand a chance to block a valuable enemy unit for some turns.
 

midean

Vampire Count
True Blood
Mar 12, 2008
1,098
Pretty much all the reasons above. Tar pits, road blocks, re-directers. And if you use the Helm on them is would be to try and lessen the amount of zombies killed. At least that is the only reason I can think of to use the Helm on'em. Certainly not to actually kill anything.....xD
 

Sanctus Malus

Zombie
May 12, 2010
40
God's basement
All your opinions have been noted, and one parting word to this topic, imagine if you would what a Zombie with the same skill as a vampire count would look like. The ninja zombies run forward preforming a couple of flips, before lightly tapping the Knights Armour.
 

BigBoston

Skeleton
Nov 12, 2009
90
Zombies are great for instant raise re-directing is awesome, If you use them to get mowed over they are great! lol, just don't depend on them in combat. I never "buy" zombies unless I need to fill a core slot, because in a descent PD army you can make 20 in a turn.
 

some_scrub

Zombie
Dec 24, 2009
19
I use zombies almost exclusively as summoned units which let my other units (usually Black Knights) flank charge stuff. Just turn them at a really extreme angle in front of the enemy unit (don't forget to make sure the zombies can see more than half of the enemy unit though!) If/When the bad guys charge and wipe you out, you can get them in the flank with the Knights. If they don't charge and try to go around your zombies instead, you have a good chance of getting a flank or rear charge with the zombies on your next turn, and you get a chance to IoN them up to large sizes. This is pretty good for tying up even the best enemy units, and it can help beat them with some support.

Another similar tactic against units which must overrun or which have the ability to overrun too far for your knights to catch them is to place 2 units of zombies staggered behind one another. If the enemy charges the first and overruns into the second, you can raise up the unit during your turn and make it huge.

Although I use summoned zombies all the time, I have never taken a unit of zombies to start the game.
 

Drakim

Skeleton
Apr 23, 2010
92
personally, I find that the enemy isn't stupid enough to charge my Zombies, nor stupid enough to let their units get into stalemate situations with zombies.

(my oppnent is DE and rarely uses many infantry regiments, but instead the more mobile monsters)
 

Darkos

Ghoul
Apr 28, 2009
157
Once, i managed to use a zombie unit to kill a skink priest on a stegadon, with EoG included, using exactly the "helm of command" tactic. (just the priest, not the steg!)

I charged the stegadon with zombies (raised unit 20 strong), and allocated all "helmed" attacks on the skink priest. It tooks 3 combat turns, and a 7-8 zombie casualties per turn. (and a similar score in the magic phase)
Lots of zombie shredding, but i think it was worth destroying that evil engine of gods....
 

Angel

Ghoul
Mar 26, 2010
184
Sweden
Speaking from a non-VC perspective I say that Zombies are best used as tarpits. They die in droves from both kills and CR but if there is one single guy left standing after that the enemy is stuck, often in a bad place.
 

some_scrub

Zombie
Dec 24, 2009
19
Drakim said:
personally, I find that the enemy isn't stupid enough to charge my Zombies, nor stupid enough to let their units get into stalemate situations with zombies.

(my oppnent is DE and rarely uses many infantry regiments, but instead the more mobile monsters)

Against an opponent like DE the tactic I described is much less effective. The hydra is super mobile and the one real unit of infantry they usually take has ASF most of the time (BG with banner of Hag Graef). In addition, dark elves have access to some of the best redirectors in the game in Harpies and Dark Riders. :(

Against, them you really have to use the zombies perfectly, or alternately, use other tactics.
 

Burnanation

Crypt Horror
Mar 29, 2010
573
Woodstock VA
The only other thing I can think of that hasn't been posted is summoning a unit of zombies behind a unit that will break. Not saying raise them so that you can try to get a rear flank, just keep them behind the uber leet enemy unit that you will combat res to death. Then when they break and run you don't have to worry about catching and running them down, because you have your faithful zombies ready for a full serving of brains.
 

S0calpunkx

Zombie
Mar 26, 2010
37
Daejeon
I have charged a Bloodthirster with 20 or so Zombies and continued to raise them to 20 or over throughout 4 turns to keep it out of the game. Let's just say my opponent wasnt too happy.

/still lost the game
 

Fodderboy

Master Necromancer
True Blood
Jul 24, 2008
2,238
'Naki, New Zealand
I've also used summoned zombies to keep a GUO out of play for about 5 combats. Cheapest 2 pd per phase I'd ever spent.

Another fun thing with zombies is to raise them in the middle of a Night Goblin army and watch the fun ensue.
 

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